"-- Sean's got a VERY patient 9-year-old there! You didn't let her sample some of that wine, did you?"
No, this isn't France <G> She just understood what I was doing and was willing to help. She acted in a movie last year and that took even more patience than this.
"-- I wish I could shoot in b&w all the time."
I pretty much do unless shooting for a client.
"-- This was a great test scene -- it really gives me a good idea of the kinds of results I might expect from the kinds of subjects I like to photograph. You can evaluate eyelash sharpness (which I admit is what I always look for, non-definitive though it is); appearance of OOF areas; highlight "blooming" (white napkin), etc."
Good. We created the test scene and I thought it was a good match for lenses designed to work in existing low light.
"-- I wish the 35/1.7 Ultron (from Sean's previous review) could have been included in this test set, so we could compare it directly to the ones in this group, but I realize you have to draw the line somewhere."
I added it to the test part way through so it wasn't part of the Fullerton Inn pictures. It will be in the other set, though.
"-- Maybe I'm a pleb, but at f/8 almost all the lenses seem very close in performance, and even at full aperture I can't see any advantage for the 50 Summicron over the 50 Nokton, for example."
Wait till you read the final review. In terms of sharpness across the frame, micro-contrast, etc., the Nokton tops everything except the Leica 50/1.4 Asph. It even betters that lens in the outer zones.
"-- Some of the worst-performing lenses (e.g. Canon 35/1.5) produced the prettiest-looking results."
Well, of course, some of these are your very own lenses so this info. is especially helpful to you perhaps. I talk a lot about this sort of issue (the drawing) in the review.
"-- The big question I was hoping this test would answer was whether I'd see any improvement in fine detail and "microcontrast" if I were to spring for a 50/1.5 Nokton as a replacement for my current Canon 50/1.4. It looks as if the answer is yes, but it took a pretty darn close study to see the differences."
You'll see them more readily once you compare pictures in various settings/lighting. That said, the 50/1.4 really does well for an oldie.
Cheers,
Sean
P.S. Some day I'll actually finish this article.